Thursday, October 28, 2010

Gargoyles Season 1

***DISCLAIMER*** The following review is entirely my opinion. If you comment (which I encourage you to do) be respectful. If you don't agree with my opinion, that's fine. To each their own. I am just sharing my opinions and perspective. Finally, the reviews are given on a scale of 1-5. 1, of course, being terrible. 2, being not great. 3, being okay. 4, being good and 5, being epic!

Gargoyles Season 1 - 4 out of 5

While I was dating a particular woman, we started talking about this great Disney cartoon and she told me she loved the Shakespeare influence the show had (a fact I think she only read on IMDb because she wasn't the brightest person) and I told her I loved the voice acting (because I want my comedy career to take me into voice acting). We then talked about Goliath and I said Keith David was the perfect choice to play him because A) he's a badass and B) he's got a great voice. She then told me Keith David didn't voice Goliath and I told her she was mistaken. She continued to hold true that I was wrong even when the internet movie database confirmed what I said. That pretty much summed up our relationship but that exchange made me realize I haven't seen this show since it originally aired in 1994.

And going back, it's just as good as I remember.

The animation is great and in the old classic, hand painted way that most cartoons nowadays don't display. The character designs are also great as each gargoyle has their own specific look. The story is solid and addicting and the voice acting is so great, it's nearly perfect. Some of the best talent in the voice acting world is involved: Keith David (They Live), Ed Asner (Up), and Jonathan Franks (Star Trek: The Next Generation) voice some of the regulars but some awesome actors come in and do reoccurring characters. Actors like Thomas F. Wilson (Biff Tannen from The Back to the Future Trilogy), Clancy Brown (Highlander, Pet Semetary 2, Starship Trooper--too many great movies for me to list and he's flippin' Mr. Krabs on SpongeBob SquarePants), John Rhys-Davies (another actor who's done too many good movies to keep the list short) and, one of my personal favorite character actors, Matt Frewer (Eureka and he was Max Headroom for crying out loud.) Honestly, the best of the best in the voice acting world are in this show, including the legend himself, the man who played both Scooby-Doo and Megatron, Frank Welker. Aside from the great stories, the voice acting this show had is definitely one of its strongest points.

Not only was this cartoon extremely entertaining, it also was quite mature for a Disney show. Aside from the violence, the cartoon made some strong comments about xenophobia as the gargoyles were constantly exposed to hostility by humans because they believed they were monsters. Also very shocking was the episode where Broadway (one of the gargoyles who is often used for comic relief) accidentally shoots one of the humans who knows of their existence and teaching the children watching the dangers of guns. I always like it when a cartoon can teach the child watching without making it obvious and embeds it into the story, rather than a cheesy PSA like G.I. Joe was notorious for. Another interesting point is that the creator, Greg Weisman, has made the statement that the gargoyle Lexington was a homosexual and, if the show continued, it would have dove deeper into developing that. Granted, Disney would have never allowed that because they just don't have the balls to do that but even the idea that the creator went in with this idea to begin with shows how advance this cartoon really was.

Even more than a decade later, Gargoyles still holds up as one of the best products (outside a Pixar feature) that Disney created. Which, in itself, is amazing because Disney mostly makes crap that is just an excuse to sell merchandise. Don't believe me? Turn on the Disney channel and look at the quality of cartoons they now produce. You'll pass out from exposure in three minutes and cry yourself to sleep as you remember the golden age of Gargoyles, Darkwing Duck and Duck Tales.

Follow by Email

Subscribe To

Translate

Find a film...

About Me

I'm a geek, an atheist (who is also an ordained reverend), a peanut butter and jelly enthusiast, a man who shares the same name with a popular character from "Parks & Rec" and feels he can't live up to the awesomeness of the fictional character, was proudly banned from Reddit, an occasional Shakespearean performer, and a stand up comic.
Have any questions, recommendations or wanna share any theories on various movies? Email me at RevRonMovies@gmail.com and I'll talk about them on my new Q&A segment!